Tucacas is a vacation destination for Venezuelans on the northern coast of the country a stones throw from Aruba and Curacao. We had a reservation on a catamaran the next day so we packed up the Fiat with as much as it could fit and headed out. I spent the morning trying to minimize bags while my travel partners spent the morning adding more. I didn’t understand why we were bringing so much food and supplies as we were going to a town that by the looks of the maps had plenty of restaraunts and a grocery store but they were packing as if we were leaving for the wilderness.

We drove past the standard national guardsmen on the onramp to the highway. Nobody knows exactly what the purpose is of these guys. Apparently sometimes they’ll stop you and ask for your ID number. I’m not sure what they could be doing with that information, they don’t have computers to look anything up. They don’t have anywhere to write it down and they surely aren’t memorizing them. Even if they did write it down do they just have giant stacks of papers with lists of random ID numbers that got on the highway at some random time? It must be the illusion of security or something. Even when you go to the grocery store or pay a toll they ask for it when you use your credit card. If I use my American credit card and they ask for an ID we just make something up and it works.

On the exit side of the ramp there was a group of 10 or so people in white dress shirts holding up a sign as cars drove by them. I couldn’t read it but I saw something about Facebook Marketplace on the bottom. I have no idea why they would need so many people to stand there, which follows the trend I notice of people getting paid to stand around looking busy.

We headed west down troncolo 1, back the way we came when arriving from the airport. We need to drive around Lake Valencia before heading north to cut through the mountains and reach the coast. When passing through the toll booth again I took count of the “Balenciadas”, vendors balancing their random treats on a rod, looking to sell to people in line to pay. I counted 30 of them, almost all selling the same sweet bread and coconut candies. They wear the same shirt that says something about tourism and the name of the toll plaza so either they’re assigned there or are just authorized to be there, but I cannot believe that it is efficient or profitable to have so many in one place. After we got through the toll we stopped on the side of the road to shade Mila so she could nap. I went around the car and stuck close to the side to put a blanket in the window. The smell of exhaust fumes and burning oil is way stronger than one would expect from well maintained, modern vehicles.

We stopped for gasoline where we knew there was one available. I thought about buying an apple from a vendor at the station but due to the proximity to the highway with the fumes and dust I thought better of it. There is no warning that there is a gas station coming, the only sign I saw was on the side of the road where the exit was to get into the gas station. Looking around I noticed there really weren’t any billboards or advertisements along the highway. We made the turn north toward Puerto Cabello and there was the remaind of a billboard, the board itself mostly gone but a corner remained. VEN Vamos Juntos it said, Venezuela, We Go Together.. Chavez Propaganda. I told Genesis about my observation and she thought that there were more billboards when she lived here. We started to notice then the frames of empty billboards, old style metal cages that would have held generally more Chavez propaganda. The propaganda long gone and the frames slowly rusting away before succubming to nature.

The mountains here are much more brown and dry, the closest comparison I can think of would be like Southern Utah around Grand Staircase Escalante. I keep seeing what looks like giant milkweed in the ditches along the side of the road. There are a few monarch butterflies around, as well as giant yellow swallowtail and a large bright blue butterfly I do not know the name of. There are signs of industrial life around here as well. One of them looks like it is some sort of construction supply, and there are quite a few new or freshly painted storefronts.

The road here was much less busy so Genesis felt comfortable doing about 100kph and meandering between lanes to avoid all the bumps. It took a turn back towards the potholey though as we got into the mountains. There was a toll plaza at the top of the pass through the mountains and the landscape changed dramatically. The forest became dense and green. The road was on a decline all the way to the coast, though we needed to slow down because of the state of the pavement. The road certainly had a lot of truck traffic going to Puerto Cabello, since it is the countries largest port and one of the largest on the Gulf of Mexico. We passed an old ford bronco riding the shoulder. The tailgate was open and there were 3 or 4 kids sitting in the bed. I see a few trucks with people riding in the bed but usually not kids. Road crews were doing maintenance in the median here again. I counted 30 people picking up trash and cutting grass/weeds with machetes.

The highway actually skirts to the west of the real town of Puerto Cabello, but as you reach the coast the entire road is lined with shops selling swimsuits, floaties, and most importantly empanadas. We bought shark, cheese and carne molida (shredded beef) and then continued on our journey. West of town is the most important industry in Venezuela, the oil refinery. This sat inoperable for years, but we noticed flares on the tops of a few smokestacks indicating actual oil production. It ceratinly didn’t look very busy but it was working. As we got farther along I saw billowing black smoke from the ocean side of the complex. That doesn’t look normal for that type of facility and when we went past it looked like a giant open burn pit. When we went back two days later it was still billowing. Next came some oil adjacent facilities, like a large power plant, a peaker plant and some petrochemical manufacturing.

Suddenly the industry stopped and palm trees started. We reached El Camino De La Felicidad, the “Road of Happiness”. This was the final stretch up the coast to Tucacas. The landscape changed and so did the vehicles. I began to notice a very large percentage of new vehicles. Hiluxes, 4Runners, Land Cruisers among the favorites, but the occassional Tahoe and Explorer as well. Only the most wealthy can afford to vacation in Tucacas.

Our condo was located at the northern end of the road of happiness just a few minutes south of town. The condo manager met us in the parking garage and showed us up to our 7th floor 2 bed. When we got out of the car the noise of machinery was too loud to talk but once we got in the elevator I found out it was the sound of the building’s generator. During high season the electrical grid can’t handle the increased load so all of the nicer buildings have their own backup. Apparently it was in use when we arrived and we noticed blips in the electricity a few times during our stay, but since they were prepared it was never long enough to be noticeable. The building also relied on tanker trucks for water which apparently were there up to 5 times a day. The building was complete with an ocean side sundeck and pool with grills available to book.

We had a grill booked that night to make Chori-pan. Choripan is simply chorizo sandwiches with tomato and onions. The original intent was to meet up with the whole catamaran crew for dinner but our building didn’t allow that many guests and neither did any of the others so we were on our own. We stopped at the local grocery store to see what they had available and I understood the need to pack. The grocery store was smaller than a walgreens and other than a few aisles of dry goods the selection of food was limited to a freezer case and a butcher that by the smell I was not intending to buy from. Other people were there so I’m sure it was ok but it reminded me of going by the fish counter at Dominicks as a kid.

We picked up a few different types of frozen Chorizo from a brand Genesis recognized and went back to grill. When we went out to the deck all of the grills were full so we called management to find out what’s up. After consulting the master spiral notebook they found out that they were double booked and we’d have to wait until 830. We were all hungry so we went upstairs and I did my best on an electric griddle. We were on vacation and tired so it was hard to complain, the main event was the next day anyway.